Radio set control



RADIO SET CONTROL I Filed Sept. 25, 1936 BY W A ORNEYS Patented RADIO SET CONTROL Earl C. Booth, Columbus, Ind., assigner to Nob-I litt-Sparks Industries, Inc., Columbus, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application September 23, 1936, Serial No. 102,103

4 Claims. (lll. lili- 1241) tion in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5

is a fragmental view lil My invention is concerned with the remote control of radio receiving sets, and especially with remote control mechanism of the general type used in conjunction with radio receiving sets intended and adapted f or installation in automobiles. The instrument board'of an automobile is a convenient and generally used location for the mounting of the remote control mechanism of the radio set; but because of differences in the designs of automobile instrument boards and differences in the provisions for the mounting of a remote control unit, the design of a remote control unit which can readily be accommodated to all automobiles is extremely dim'cult, if not impossible.

Itis the primary object of my invention to provide for the radio set remote control mechanism which will possess great ilexibility of installation. More specifically, it is my object to provide for independent mounting, either on the instrument board itself or on a suitable escutcheon plate or base adapted to be secured to the instrument board, of the various rotatable knobs and the dial which constitute the conventional remote control mechanism. A further object of my invention is to provide an operative connection between the knob which effects tuning control and the indicator displaying the condition of tuning adjustment, and to so design this connection that the tuning knob may be mounted at any desired distance from the indicator and at any angular position thereabout.

In carrying out my invention I equip each knob or other control member of the radio set with mounting provisions adapted for attachment to a mounting plate, or base, or to the instrument board itself, the indicator being equipped with. similar provisions. To interconnect the indicator with the tuning control knob, I employ mechanism including a flexible shaft and gearing, the former providing for changes in the relative positions of the tuning knob and indicator and the latter providing whatever speed-reduction is necessary to correlate readings of the indicator with the adjustment of tuning element of the receiver.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention: Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating in front elevation the remote control unit and its connection to the radio set; Fig. 2 is a vertical 4section through the remote control unit of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmental view similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating a modified form of tuning indicator and showing parts of a modied form of tuning control device in section;-Fig. 4 is an elevation of the tuning device shown in se'csimilar to Fig. i, but showing how the device illustratedcan be readily changed to provide a different gear ratio between the tuning-control knob and the indicator'.v

In Fig. 1, there is illustrated the casing I ll ci the radio receiving set which houses, among other apparatus, variable tuning condensers lI,a volume-control rheostat I2, and a tone-control rheostat IS. The shaft carrying the movable plates of the condensers I I is provided at one end with a worm-gear I5 with which 'there meshes a worm I5 operatively connected through a exible shaft i6 with the tuning-control knob I'I of the remote control mechanism. As is also shown, the rheostats I2 and I3 are connected through flexiblev shafts I8 and I9 with control knobs 20 and 2| of the remote control unit. My invention is not concerned with the control mechanism associated with the respective rheostats I2 and I3, but is limited to the means employed to adjust the condenser II and to the connection of such means with a tuning indicator. f

It has heretofore been customary in remote control units .to provide a more or less elaborate base or escutcheon plate on which were mounted in relatively fixed position the tuning indicaton andthe various control members for effecting the necessary adjustments of the radio set. Because every common form of tuning indicator embodies a rotatable member whose extent of rotation is necessarily limited to somewhat lcssthan 360, and because of the presence of such speed-reducing gearing as that indicated at II--I 5, it is necessary to provide a speed-reducing connectionbetween the tuning-control knob I1 and the movable member of the tuning indicator. It has been customary to employ gearing in effecting such connection and to mount such gearing on the base or escutcheon plate of the remote control unit. Because of the necessity for such gearing, the relative positions of the tuning-control knob and the tuning indicator, as well as the position of the gearing, are ilxed relatively to the base and to `each other, thus making of the base the tuningcontrol member, the tuning-indicator, and the gearing a unit fixed in size and shape. The nxed e size and dimensions of such a unit inevitably limit its exiblity of installation.

Instead of employing as a connection between the tuning-control member and the tuning indicator gearing which requires fixed center-distances and a more or less definite shape ol' the lremote control'unit, I employ an operative conthis connection is shown in association with an indicator of the so-called airplane type in which an indicating hand 25 swings over a graduated circular dial 26. As shown, the dial 26 is mountedv in a cup-shaped member 21 provided with a transparent dial-cover 28 and with a central, rearwardly projecting boss 29 threaded for the reception of a nut 30. A hand 25 is secured to the outer end of a short shaft 3| which is mounted concentrically in the boss 29.

As is clear from Fig. 2, the nut 30 may be employed to clamp the cup 21 against the face of a plate-like mounting member or base 32. The member 32 may be either the instrument board itself or a suitable plate adapted to be mounted in an opening provided in the instrument board.

The control knob |1 is also rotatably supported from the plate 32. Conveniently, it is attached to the outer end of a shaft 35. which is rotatably mounted in a cylindrical housing 36 attached to the plate 32. The attachment of the housing 36 to the plate 33 is desirably secured by the cooperation of a ange 31 on the housing and a nut 38 screw-threadedly mounted on the front end of the housing on the opposite side of the plate 32. At its rear end, the shaft 35 is connected to the flexible shaft I6 leading to the radio set proper, the sheath 39 of such shaft conveniently being received and held in place in the rear end of the housing 36, as by means of the set-screw 40.

In rear of the plate 32 the housing 36 is provided with a lateral extension 4.5 providing a mounting and an enclosure for a helical gear 46 ,which meshes with gear-teeth or a Worm 41 provided on the shaft 35. Desirably, the gear 46 is mounted with its axis at an angle to the axis of the shaft 35 and to the plate 32 so that a short length of flexible shaft 50 may extend in a relatively smooth curve from its point of coaxial attachment to the gear 46 to its point of coaxial attachment to the shaft 3| on which the indicating hand 25 is mounted. If desired, a removable cover plate 5| may be provided for the housingextension 45.

It will be obvious that the provision of the exible shaft 50 makes it possible to mount the housing 36 at any desired distance, within the limits set by the length of the shaft 50, from the tuning indicator, and also at any angular position about the axis of the tuning indicator. ever it is mounted, the tuning control knob |1 is connected through the gearing 46-41 with the flexible shaft 50 which, in turn, is connected to the shaft 3| carrying the hand 25. As it is customary to mount the hand 25 frictionally on the shaft 3| so that it may indicate the proper reading on the dial graduations, any relative movement of the gears 46 and 41 which accompanies a change in the position of the housing 36 may be accommodated for.

Obviously, the ratio of the gearing 46-41 will be such as to permit the hand 25 to move from one end of the scale on the dial 26 to the other while the adjustable element of the condenser is moving through its entire range oi adjustment.

The device illustrated .in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 is similar in principle to that illustrated in Fig. 2l

Wherthe plate 32 so that graduations on its cylindrical surface will be visible through a window in the plate 32. As before, the shaft 50 has one end. connected to the movable element of the indicator, in this case the drum 55, and its other end connected through gearing 56-51 with the shaft 35 on which the tuning control knob |1 is mounted. The gear 51 is enclosed in a gearhousing 58 which projects laterally from the shaft-housing 36.

Conveniently, there is interposed between the gear-housing 58 and the shaft-housing 36 a filler block 53 which engages the gear-housing 58 on a surface coplanar with the axis of the gear 51. The bearing for the hub 68 of the gear 51 is therefore formed partly in the filler block 59 and partly in the gear-housing 58. As a result of this arrangement, the gear ratio between the shaft 35 and the flexible shaft 58 can be varied by substituting for the gear 51 a similar gear of different diameter and by employing, as indicated in Fig. 5, a filler block 59 of such dimensions as to maintain the proper center distance of the two gears. The same housing 58 is used, irrespective of the size of the gear selected for the gear 51, the gearhousing and filler block being held in place by suitable screws 60.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a remote control for a radio receiving set, a rotatabletuning-control member, a shaft on which said member is mounted, a housing for said shaft, gearing mounted in said housing and driven by said shaft, a tuning indicator having a movable indicating element, a flexible shaft operatively interconnecting said gearing and said indicating element, a base, and means for independently mounting said shaft housing and indicator on said base.

2. In a remote control for a radio receiving set, a rotatable tuning-control member, a shaft on which said member is mounted, a housing for said shaft, gearing mounted in said housing and driven by said shaft, a tuning indicator having a movable indicating element, flexible means operatively interconnecting said gearing and said indicating element, a base, and means for independently mounting said shaft housing and indicator on said base.

3. In a remote control for a radio receiving set, a base, a housing secured to said base and projecting rearwardly therefrom, a member rotatably mounted in said housing and projecting forwardly through said base, said member at its rear end being adapted for connection to the tuning element of said radio set, gear teeth on said member, a gear mounted in said housing and meshing with saidteeth, a tuning indicator having a movable indicating element, flexible means operatively interconnecting said indicating element and said gear, and means for mounting said indicator on said base independently of said housing.

4. In a remote control for a radio receiver, a rotatable tuning-control member, a unitary support therefor, a second member rotatably mounted in said support and operatively connected to said turing-control member, a tuning indicator having a movable indicating element, flexible means operatively connecting said element with said second rotatable member, a base, and means for independently mounting said indicator and said support on said base.

EARL C. BOOTH. 

